Rupert Lowe has accused Nigel Farage of lying about a private message exchanged following his offer of cooperation between Restore Britain and Reform UK.
The public dispute emerged less than 24 hours after Lowe appealed to Farage to put their personal differences aside and explore whether the two parties could work together.
Despite the latest confrontation, Lowe insists that his offer to Farage and Reform remains open.
What did Nigel Farage say?
Farage was questioned about Lowe’s proposal during a Reform UK press conference on Monday.
He told reporters that he had approached Lowe with an open mind after seeing the Restore Britain leader’s video.
“I did actually reach out back yesterday to him,” Farage said. “I did say, ‘Look, should we have a call?’ I haven’t heard back yet, so I don’t know what the sincerity of this is.”
Farage subsequently said that a conversation would be different from a formal negotiation but indicated that talks could begin if Lowe genuinely wanted them.
“I opened the door to that conversation yesterday, late morning, and at the moment I have not yet had a reply.”
“We will find out whether he genuinely wants to have talks. If he does, then we will start to negotiate.”
Lowe disputes Farage’s account
Lowe responded on X by accusing the Reform leader of misrepresenting their private exchange.
“I do not want to make private conversations public, but Farage has just done so at a national press conference,” Lowe wrote.
“He just stated he said to me yesterday, ‘Shall we have a call?’
“Sadly, that is just a lie.”
Lowe published an image appearing to show a message received at 10.30 reading: “Will call later.”
According to Lowe, no subsequent telephone call was received.
The screenshot supports Lowe’s account of the wording contained in that particular message, although it does not independently establish whether other messages or communications passed between the two men.
Farage has not, at the time of publication, publicly responded to Lowe’s allegation about the wording of the message.
Offer remains open
Despite accusing Farage of “outright lying,” Lowe said Restore Britain remained prepared to discuss cooperation.
“The offer remains open to Nigel and Reform,” he wrote.
“For Restore Britain, it will always be country before party — ahead of any personal differences or past disagreements we have. Every single time.”
Lowe said he remained willing to work with people with whom he had experienced serious personal and political disagreements if doing so advanced Restore Britain’s objectives.
He also repeated the five principles which he said must form the basis of any cooperation between the parties.
These include large-scale deportations of people without a legal right to remain in Britain, substantially reducing legal migration, implementing the recommendations of Restore Britain’s grooming gangs inquiry, holding a referendum on capital punishment and pursuing greater national self-sufficiency.
Lowe’s final condition is that former Conservative ministers should not be appointed to a future government formed with Restore Britain’s support.
Some of the language used by Lowe in setting out his immigration and demographic policies has proved highly controversial. Reform UK has not agreed to accept the five conditions.
A difficult political relationship
Lowe was elected as the Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth in 2024 but later became involved in a bitter dispute with the party’s leadership.
Reform suspended Lowe and reported allegations concerning threats to the police. Lowe denied any wrongdoing and maintained that the process had been used against him for political reasons.
The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decided that no criminal charges should be brought, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
Lowe later established Restore Britain as a national political party competing for many of the same voters as Reform UK.
That history made Sunday’s offer of cooperation particularly notable. Lowe acknowledged that he did not find it easy to make the proposal but argued that the political interests of the country should take priority over their past disagreements.
Can an agreement still be reached?
Both men have now said publicly that they are prepared to consider a conversation, but their dispute over a three-word message illustrates the lack of trust between them.
Farage said he had opened the door to talks but questioned Lowe’s sincerity. Lowe says he was waiting for the telephone call Farage told him would come.
The central question is therefore no longer simply whether Reform and Restore share sufficient political ground. It is whether their respective leaders can establish enough trust to begin negotiations.
For now, Lowe’s offer remains on the table—but the prospect of cooperation appears more complicated than it did when the proposal was first made.